Redefine Music Using Camera with this iOS App

18 November 2014

Jacksonville: Digital music dissemination and consumption has been in the same way for quite some time now, where the users are allowed either to stream the music or to download it directly into their devices. It’s definitely not a bad model, but one way to go beyond that is by launching an album not just as digital downloads, but also as an app. We’ve come across several artists who were striving to achieve that in past, but “Sadly by Your Side”, a unique album and an iOS app has got to do that.

“Sadly by Your Side”, it’s not just an eight-song album, but a book and an iOS app which is capable of transforming the music in the album based on the images you point on your camera.

This app was built by an interaction designer, Angelo Semeraro who wanted to traverse through the digital music world. As people use mobile devices listen to music in different places, he tried building an app that would fit in with the technological environment. The result is an application which not only plays music, but also remixes the music according to the surroundings focused on your camera.

How does the app work?

It uses the camera of your phone to scan the music from a book.

Once the music is scanned, it starts to play.

When the music is being played, you can give it a different vibe by focusing your camera as you need.

The music slightly gets remixed according to the areas focused on your camera.

This is achieved by using colors like black, blue, and red, which matches to the three layers in which the music was recorded. For instance, focusing the camera at more blacks leads the music to a particular tempo, likewise more reds or blues will give you a different vibe.

It’s definitely one of the distinct listening experiences one can have out there, although the music has to be recorded in such a way where these remixes would be unpredictable, it’s just an amazing effort which makes use of the latest technologies.

In order to listen to the original song, you need to focus the app on one of the eight available images in the book “sadly by your side”.

“Sadly by your side” captivates us visually and emotionally. It explores an interaction paradigm that is entirely new to people. It overpassed a number of disciplines and mediums making you rethink over the music experience. It has a powerful execution beyond the board both visually and practically, and the concept is carried through every aspect of the project.